Infant feeding tube



Oct. 20, 1964 D.s.sHER1DAN 3,153,415

INFANT FEEDING TUBE Filed Feb. 2s, 1961 alla www'

United States Patent 3,153,415 FEEDNG'. TUBE David S. Sheridan, Argyle, N.Y., assigner to Sheridan Corporativa. a wfrwatiea fNeW- ,York Filed Feb. 23,1961, Ser. No. 91,174 Claims. ((1128-4548) The present invention relates to an infant feeding tube and more particularly to' feeding tubes having a cap to seal off` thek end of the tube when it is not being used to feed an infant in order to prevent dehydration of the infant.

1 Forsometime it has been the practice to feed young infants by inserting a iiexible tube through the nose, and troat of an infant into his stomach. Many of these tubes presently in use have a4 reduced diameter towards the end inserted into the stomach to make the insertion as easy as possible.VV The end portion placed in the stomach is usually openor may have `various apertures near the end portion to allow the food to be distributed into the stomach; After the tube inserted a food container is attached'to the noninsertedend, ofthe tube and fluid foodris introduced by gravity iiow from the container into the infants stomach. When the tube is not in use between feedingsitis disconnected from a iiuid food container and usually left in the infant until the next feeding. It is desirable to seal off the noninserted end of the tube whenever it is left in the infant. Sealing off the end of the tube preventsthetube from acting Vas an air passage from th? SOIAIllCh` Which would normally cause unwanted dehydration ofthe stomach area.` The general practice at the present time is to` seal ,oit the noninserted end of the tube With a male4 plug which litsinto the internal` diameter of the tube. These male plugs often come in contact with various objects .andr are contaminated. When they are then inserted in the end of thetube, the inside of the tube becomes contaminated, Thevcontamination once deposited on the inside of'thetube may bewashed down the tube by the Huid food at the next feeding into the infants stomach. i

Therefore, vit is..an.object of the. present invention to provide a new and improved infants feeding tube.

Another object is to provide a feeding tube having a 'cap which will not cause a sterile break of the inside of the tube Wall.

A further object is to provide a cap for an infants feeding tube which its over the outside of an end portion of the tube and which resists inadvertent removal.

An additional object is to provide a cap for an infants feeding tube which is constructed of a hollow flexible cone having an internal diameter at the open base end of the cone slightly larger than the external diameter of an end of the feeding tube.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. l illustrates the placement of an embodiment of the present invention through the nose and throat of an infant into its stomach and its attachment to a fluid food container.

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of the embodiment of the present invention with the end of the tube sealed by the cap.

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of the embodiment of the present invention connected to a fluid food container.

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view of the embodiment of the present invention with the cap removed.

While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail an embodiment of the rice invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to b e considered as an exemplification `of the principles. of the invention andY is not intended, to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated The scope of the invention Will bepointedout in the appended claims.

Referring rst to FIGURE 1, a clear plastic feeding tube 10 is inserted through one nostril of a small infant, through his throat and into his stomach. A liared cone shaped end portion 11 referred to as the proximal end is passed over a cannula like tube portion 12 of a uid foodcontainer 13 toform an airtight seal. A ring portion 14 of the duid food container 13 is used to support the container on a hook 15` which is secured to a mounting stand 16. The mounting stand 16is secured to a portion of an infants crib 17.

A cap 20 is secured to the end' portion 11. The construction of thenoninserted portion 11 may be more clearly seen inAFIGURE 2. Thev end portion 11 is flared to forma cone with an increasing diameter which increases to a maximum at the end 21 of the tube 10. The cap 20fis constructed of a transparent plastic in the form of ahollow cone having an open base end 22. Theinternal diameter of the, open base end 22 is slightly larger than the external diameter of the end 21. This allows the cap 20 to be slid over the end of the tube 11 until the decreasing diameter of an interior portion 23 equals the external diameter of the endI 21. The pressed fit thus created between the tube end 21 and the interior portion 23 provides an airtight seal for the end 21 of the tube 10. Both the tube 19 and cap 20 are composed of a flexible material having considerable resiliency such as a plastic. When the cap 2 0 is pressed onto the end of the tube 11, the end of the tube is compressed slightly and the interior portion 23 of the cap 20 opposite the end 11v isrexpanded slightly. Because of the resiliency of these elements a force exists to hold them together and `thereby increases afriction force which resists efforts to p ull them apart. If the baby should toss about or attempt to pull olf the cap, such inadvertent opening which might occur therefrom, would be resisted vandfin most such situations prevented'by the friction force between the capA and end of the tube. Those skilled in the art will recognize that only one element, either the cap or the end of the tube is required to have resiliency for them to resist an inadvertent opening. However a better seal is accomplished, when both the cap and the tube have resiliency.

An elongated flexible apex portion 24 of the cone formed by the cap 20 has an end 25 welded to the end portion 11. The Welding of the apex portion 24 at its end 25 insures that the apex end of the cap 20 is closed and airtight. An inserted end 26 referred to as the distal end of the tube 10 has an open end 27 and several apertures 28 near the end 27 to distribute the uid food into the infants stomach.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, the end portion 11 of the tube 10 is shown pressed onto the tube portion 12 of the fluid container 13 to form an airtight seal.

The tube portion 12 is tapered at the same angle as the internal wall of the tube portion 11. Therefore the tube portion 12 will slide into the end portion 11 until a press fit is accomplished.

Referring now to FIGURE 4, the cap 20 is shown removed from the end portion 11. When the cap 20 is free to be moved around it may strike various objects or may be handled by the person utilizing the tube. Any contamination which reaches the cap 20 will probably be deposited on its external surfaces. If the end portion 20 has been a plug instead of a cap as shown in the present invention, the probability of such a plug picking up contamination from striking other objects and from the hands of the nurse would be relatively high. However with the present invention al1 such contamination is prevented since the portion 23 of the cap 20 which iits over the end of the tube end portion 11 does not come in contact with other objects. Thus no sterile break occurs to the inside of the tube which could pass contamination to the stomach of the infant.

With the cap attached to the tube 10 as shown in the figures, `the cap is always immediately available to be placed on the tube as soon as a feeding is completed. Therefore there is no wasted time between the removal of the fluid food container 13 from the tube 10 and its being capped.

I claim:

1. A medical device for uid delivery comprising an elongated, resilient, flexible tube having inner and outer wall surfaces, a proximal end and a distal end, said proximal end terminating with a given outer wall surface cireumference, a manually removable cap mounted on said proximal end composed of a hollowbody having an open base and inner and outer wall surfaces, said open base being the only aperture between said inner and outer surfaces of said cap, said cap inner wall surface having an annular cross section which tapers from a circumference at said open base greater than said proximal end given outer wall circumference to a circumference smaller than said proximal end given outer wall circumference, said hollow body having no projections extending within said tapered annular wall, said tube outer wall surface at said proximal end forming an acute langle with said cap inner wall surface when said cap is pressed onto said proximal end to cause said proximal end given outer wall circumfer ence to engage said cap inner wall surface between its greater circumference at the open base and its smaller circumference.

2. A medical device for fluid delivery as specified in claim l, wherein said cap is composed of a resilient material and the resiliency of said tube and said cap resist inadvertent removal of said cap from said proximal end of the tube when said cap has been pressed onto said proximal end to form an airtight seal.

3. A medical device for iiuid delivery as specified in claim 1, wherein said outer wall surface of said cap has a smooth conical shape having a base and an apex with the open base of said body forming the base of said conical shape.

4. A medical device for uid delivery as specified in claim 3, wherein said apex of said conical shaped outer wall surface of said cap isv elongated, flexible and connected to the outer wall of said tube to allow said cap to be pressed onto and removed from said proximal end of said tube without interference between the open base and the apex and without disconnection of said cap from said tube.

5. A medical device for uid delivery comprising an elongated, resilient, exible tube having inner and outer wall surfaces, a proximal end and a distal end, said outer wall surface tapering outwardly at said proximal end to terminate v/ith a given outer wall surface circumference, a manually removable cap mounted on said proximal end composed of a hollow body having` an open base and inner and outer wall surfaces, said open base being the only aperture between said inner and outer surfaces of said cap, said cap inner wall surface having an annular cross section which tapers from a circumference at said open base greater than said proximal end given outer wall circumference to a circumference smaller than said proximal end given outer wall circumference, said outer wall surface at said proximal end forming an acute angle with said cap inner wall surface when said cap is pressed ontosaid proximal end to cause said proximal end given outer wall circumference to engage said cap inner wall surface between its greater circumference at the open base and its smaller circumference.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,596,947 Turkel May 13, 1952 2,656,835 Eisenstein Oct. 27, 1953 i 2,705,955 Nesset et al Apr. 12, 1955 2,731,053 Lockhart Jan. 17, 1956 2,758,597 Elder Aug. 14, 1956 2,763,266 Evans Sept. 18, 1956 2,884,151 Biederman Apr. 28, 1959 2,887,240 Deussen May 19, 1959 2,949,913 Gewecke et al Aug. 23, 1960 2,997,043 Flynn Aug. 22, 1961 3,058,472 Thornton Oct. 16, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,039,555 France May 20, 1953 

5. A MEDICAL DEVICE FOR FLUID DELIVERY COMPRISING AN ELONGATED, RESILIENT, FLEXIBLE TUBE HAVING INNER AND OUTER WALL SURFACES, A PROXIMAL END AND A DISTAL END, SAID OUTER WALL SURFACE TAPERING OUTWARDLY AT SAID PROXIMAL END TO TERMINATE WITH A GIVEN OUTER WALL SURFACE CIRCUMFERENCE, A MANUALLY REMOVABLE CAP MOUNTED ON SAID PROXIMAL END COMPOSED OF A HOLLOW BODY HAVING AN OPEN BASE AND INNER AND OUTER WALL SURFACES, SAID OPEN BASE BEING THE ONLY APERTURE BETWEEN SAID INNER AND OUTER SURFACES OF SAID CAP, SAID CAP INNER WALL SURFACE HAVING AN ANNULAR CROSS SECTION WHICH TAPERS FROM A CIRCUMFERENCE AT SAID OPEN BASE GREATER THAN SAID PROXIMAL END GIVEN OUTER WALL CIRCUMFERENCE TO A CIRCUMFERENCE SMALLER THAN SAID PROXIMAL END GIVEN OUTER WALL CIRCUMFERENCE, SAID OUTER WALL SURFACE AT SAID PROXIMAL END FORMING AN ACUTE ANGLE WITH SAID CAP INNER WALL SURFACE WHEN SAID CAP IS PRESSED ONTO SAID PROXIMAL END TO CAUSE SAID PROXIMAL END GIVEN 